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Page 11
This was a delightful home, as many persons have testified who knew it.
I saw recently the diary of the famous George Whitefield, where he wrote
that he sometimes wondered if it was not the Lord's will that he should
marry, that he might thereby be more useful, and that if it was the
Lord's will that he should marry, he wished to be reconciled thereto,
but he did hope that the Lord would send him as a wife such a woman as
Mrs. Edwards, whom he considered the most beautiful and noble wife for
a Christian minister that he had ever known. If there be a more charming
tribute to woman than this, I have not seen it.
In view of the character of her children and their great success in
life, it may be interesting to know how she brought up the children, of
whom there were so many, and for which the schools did so little. This
is the testimony of one who knew of her home life well: "She had an
excellent way of governing her children; she knew how to make them
regard and obey her cheerfully. She seldom punished them, and in
speaking to them used gentle and pleasant words. When she had occasion
to reprove or rebuke, she would do it in a few words, without warmth and
noise, and with all calmness and gentleness of mind. In her directions
and reproofs of matters of importance, she would address herself to the
reason of her children, that they might not only know her inclination
and will, but at the same time be convinced of the reasonableness of it.
She had need to speak but once and she was obeyed; murmuring and
answering again were not known among them. In their manners they were
uncommonly respectful to their parents. When their parents came into
the room, they all rose instinctively from their seats and never resumed
them until their parents were seated; and when either parent was
speaking, no matter with whom they had been conversing, they were all
immediately silent.
"Quarreling and contention were in her family wholly unknown. She
carefully observed the first appearance of resentment and ill-will in
her young children towards any person whatever, and did not connive at
it, but was careful to show her displeasure, and suppress it to the
utmost; yet not by angry, wrathful words.
"Her system of discipline began at a very early age, and it was her rule
to resist the first, as well as every subsequent exhibition of temper or
disobedience in the child, however young, until its will was brought
into submission to the will of the parents."
It is needless to say that all this added materially to the good
inheritance of the children.
CHAPTER VI
CAPACITY, CHARACTER AND TRAINING
In view of what has been learned regarding Jonathan Edwards, his
ancestors and his children, his grandchildren might have found some
excuse for presuming upon the capacity and character which they
inherited. In their veins was the blood of famous lines of noble men
and women; the blood of Edwards, Stoddard, Pierrpont, and Hooker was
thrilling in their thought and intensifying their character. They had
inherited capacity and character at their best, but they did not presume
upon it. If ever inheritance would justify indifference to training, it
was in the case of the grandchildren of Jonathan Edwards, but they were
far from indifferent to their responsibility.
It must be understood that the "family of Jonathan Edwards" includes not
only his descendants, but the men who married into the family and whose
children became descendants of Mr. Edwards. At first this may not seem
the proper interpretation, but there is no other that is legitimate. In
the case of the "Jukes" Mr. Dugdale includes in the family both the men
and the women who married into the family, but in the case of Mr.
Edwards there is no call to include the women who thus came into the
family, and it would have magnified the study needlessly.
Until quite recently there has been no way to discover the standing of
married women in American life except as we know the social, scholastic,
and professional position of their husbands. In most families a
son-in-law becomes a representative factor of a family. Therefore,
whenever the "Edwards family" is spoken of it includes the sons-in-law,
but it does not include the daughters-in-law, nor does it go beyond
Jonathan Edwards to include his brothers and sisters or their
descendants.
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